Mary Alice Monroe, also published as Mary Alice Kruesi, is a New York Times best-selling fiction writer. Many of her novels deal with environmental issues; For example, The Beach House and Swimming Lessons refer to the plight of injured sea turtles.
Monroe currently resides in South Carolina, and so many of her novels are set in the South and feature "strong Southern women".
Her recent novel, Time is a River, is about breast cancer survivors in a fly-fishing group in North Carolina, and Last Light Over Carolinadescribes the life and times of the shrimping industry. Monroe received the 2008 Award for Writing from the South Carolina Center for the Book.